Can I control height of leveling jacks?

[jwcolby54]

A week ago I purchased a 2014 Vista 26HE. I love the rig. Buuuuuut.....

Within hours my entry door latch failed, the back of the latch sheared off and the handles would no longer pull the latch backwards to allow the door to open. Luckily I was inside at the time, though my phone was 'locked' in my unlocked truck parked nearby. And I had no tools in the RV yet. A bit of a pickle. I eventually attracted some attention and got my phone and a fillips screwdriver and needle nose, disassembled the latch and escaped the clutches of my Winnie.

I then proceeded to leave the headlights on and ran down the starter battery. Sigh. Jumped it and got the engine to start and recharge the chassis battery. And of course I didn't monitor my house battery closely enough and ran it down. Of course the Gene wouldn't start so I had to start the engine to recharge the house to start the gene to finish recharging the house battery.

Trial by fire I guess!!!

Given all the rookie mistakes I was a bit hesitant to try the leveling jacks and slides, figuring I could cause much bigger problems with those systems. But last night I decided to give them a whirl. The jacks leveled the coach just fine (haven't yet tried to retract them) and the slide worked (haven't yet tried to retract it yet.

So can I control how high the jacks raise the RV? The front tires are entirely off the ground which allows the wind to push the RV around. I found a thread about using leveling blocks first to help with this? Do I drive the front tires up on the blocks so that after leveling the tires are still somewhat resting on those blocks?

In spite of my trials and tribulations, it has been fun "camping" with my daughter in my new-to-us RV. I have to say though that the cold weather is fixing to blow a hole in my camping budget. It is 20 degrees outside right now.

 

[creativepart]

You can’t really control things when you use auto level. But you have manual controls there and you can manually level your coach. Also, you can calibrate the automatic level system. All that info is in your Operator’s Manual.

Since your Vista is shorter and lighter you could use leveling blocks. Generally, the blocks do the leveling without using the jacks. But you can combine the two things as you wish.

 

[Morich]

I favor the least work to get the project done to what I want!
If you find the jacks extended too far for whatever reason, I go for simple and look for a solution.
First step to finding any solution is to define the problem, correct?
So ask yourself what is the problem! The jacks are extended too far and become shaky!
The solution is to bring the "ground" level higher and that makes the jacks extend less!

We carried a few boards for when things like this happened. The jacks only extend as far as they need to get the RV to level, so if they find "ground is 6 inches higher in that one spot under the jack it doesn't need to extend so far!

Do make sure the boards are wide enough and flat enough on the ground to not allow it to become a wobbling tower but just act like solid ground.
If the jacks extended 12 inches at first and you put down 6 inches of board, the jacks only extend 6 inches on second try!

OR, if you want to keep one end (always the rear!) on the ground, blocks under the rear wheels can let them stay on the ground to prevent rolling.
Never raise the rear off the ground as you then lose the parking brake which hold the RV from rolling!
This may vary if you have an RV with front wheel drive and parking brakes. I have no experience with those!

 

[jwcolby54]

I favor the least work to get the project done to what I want!
.....

The solution is to bring the "ground" level higher and that makes the jacks extend less!

We carried a few boards for when things like this happened. The jacks only extend as far as they need to get the RV to level, so if they find "ground is 6 inches higher in that one spot under the jack it doesn't need to extend so far!
...
If the jacks extended 12 inches at first and you put down 6 inches of board, the jacks only extend 6 inches on second try!
....

Thanks. This solution allows me to just raise the jacks, place the boards and re-extend the jacks, rather than moving the entire RV back and forth.

I must say that self leveling jacks are da bomb!

 

[Pointyears]

I favor the least work to get the project done to what I want!
If you find the jacks extended too far for whatever reason, I go for simple and look for a solution.
First step to finding any solution is to define the problem, correct?
So ask yourself what is the problem! The jacks are extended too far and become shaky!
The solution is to bring the "ground" level higher and that makes the jacks extend less!

We carried a few boards for when things like this happened. The jacks only extend as far as they need to get the RV to level, so if they find "ground is 6 inches higher in that one spot under the jack it doesn't need to extend so far!

Do make sure the boards are wide enough and flat enough on the ground to not allow it to become a wobbling tower but just act like solid ground.
If the jacks extended 12 inches at first and you put down 6 inches of board, the jacks only extend 6 inches on second try!

OR, if you want to keep one end (always the rear!) on the ground, blocks under the rear wheels can let them stay on the ground to prevent rolling.
Never raise the rear off the ground as you then lose the parking brake which hold the RV from rolling! !

I recently had my deck redone and I sliced up some of the old 2x12s and now carry six of them with me. Them, combined with wheel chocks, make for a secure platform.

 

[be happy]

I am not a fan of putting any of the wheels off the ground. I find alot of times the self leveling system will raise the front off the ground. By then going to manual I can adjust coach to be level and wheels on ground at the same time.

The procedure talked about before, jacking up putting something under wheels and re jacking, I found the easiest way.

Something you did not ask, level the coach before you extend the slides.

Good Luck learning at every curve

 

[deckape]

Find the spot that will make your coach level when pulling into site . Your jack pad will show which side ( wheel ) is off . Try jacks to see what you will need to block . Retrack jacks if wheels off ground . Use 2 X 12 boards to put under tire , backup on board , and same number of boards under jack . Jacks down again and you should be good .

 

[Horse54]

As stated earlier, you should not allow any wheels to be off the ground. This is not only for stability, but you need the support of the ground (or boards) to keep the weight from causing problems. A gas RV has the engine up front, so you do not want the weight of the engine only being supported by the jacks. Same goes for a diesel pusher in the back. And as stated, wheels off the ground means you have no brakes if it rolls.

 

[creativepart]

As stated earlier, you should not allow any wheels to be off the ground.

This is an often debated topic. Many feel like you that all 4-wheels need to be on the ground.

Personally, I don't worry too much if the fronts are up a bit on my motorhome. I try to prevent this but if a site requires it, I'm OK with that.

Now, the rears MUST be on the ground because when the transmission is in Park and the Emergency Brake set those two things only work on the rear tires.

If you feel it must be all 4 down that's fine. But not everyone shares your opinion on this part.

 

[Pointyears]

This is an often debated topic. Many feel like you that all 4-wheels need to be on the ground.

Personally, I don't worry too much if the fronts are up a bit on my motorhome. I try to prevent this but if a site requires it, I'm OK with that.

Now, the rears MUST be on the ground because when the transmission is in Park and the Emergency Brake set those two things only work on the rear tires.

If you feel it must be all 4 down that's fine. But not everyone shares your opinion on this part.

Winnebago doesn't share that opinion. Their manual is emphatic about keeping the rears on the ground for the reasons you cited; no such cautioning about the fronts. (Vita with EQ leveling.)

 

[creativepart]

Winnebago doesn't share that opinion.

They do share my opinion... as I said, the rears MUST be on the ground. The fronts are a matter of personal choice.

 

[Pointyears]

They do share my opinion... as I said, the rears MUST be on the ground. The fronts are a matter of personal choice.

I hate to be pedantic (but that's a lie) but:

"If you feel it must be all 4 down that's fine. But not everyone shares your opinion on this part."

and my reply to that was

"Winnebago doesn't share that opinion."

Nothing to do with your opinion.

 

[rblebaron]

Self Leveling system

There probably will be some disagreement, but I find that, for lots of reasons, it's better to get the RV reasonably level and then use the auto leveling system more for stabilization. This way, no wheels are off the ground. And it usually just takes a few minutes with the 4" graduated wheel levels like these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NJSXRRB

The challenge is if it's really muddy, you need a board under both the wheel levels and your stabilizing jacks.

You can buy a bubble level at harbor Freight for under $10 that gives you side to side and front to back which I just lay on the floor behind the engine hump and once you do it a few times, it becomes really easy as a one person job.

There are alot more costly ways to do this, but it works for me.

 

[dkoldman]

I hate to be pedantic (but that's a lie) but:

"If you feel it must be all 4 down that's fine. But not everyone shares your opinion on this part."

and my reply to that was

"Winnebago doesn't share that opinion."

Nothing to do with your opinion.

At the risk of being didactic.

I read the opinion you referred to, to be an option for the front wheels?

As it relates to what WBGO says, my 2019 Sunstar 29ve owners manual from WBGO says...

When parking on an uneven site, always park the front of the vehicle to the downhill side. This allows you to level by raising the front end rather than the rear.

Since it is a given that all agree that the rear tires should always be on the ground, it is implied conclusion that WBGO prefers all 4 wheels on the ground by virtue of always parking RV front downhill.

 

[dkoldman]

There probably will be some disagreement, but I find that, for lots of reasons, it's better to get the RV reasonably level and then use the auto leveling system more for stabilization. This way, no wheels are off the ground. And it usually just takes a few minutes with the 4" graduated wheel levels like these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NJSXRRB

The challenge is if it's really muddy, you need a board under both the wheel levels and your stabilizing jacks.

You can buy a bubble level at harbor Freight for under $10 that gives you side to side and front to back which I just lay on the floor behind the engine hump and once you do it a few times, it becomes really easy as a one person job.

There are alot more costly ways to do this, but it works for me.

As a general rule, I always auto level. I do use the manual leveling to raise tires to have a tire removed etc.

I have an electronic Camco leveler, but in 5 years the auto level has never not got it perfect; so I stopped using as it was a waste of time. My bath door and shower floor drain is always the proof.

I will say this, there have been a few times where my auto level would go down and go back up on it's own very quickly. I surmised that the terrain was too steep of an incline? In all cases, my 1st order of business is to repark the RV, or move to another site that is more level.

In cases where the above was not possible (zero choice - not likely) I pull out my leveling blocks for the low tires and jacks, spot and drive over them, then I auto level.

 

[RayIN]

I agree with creativepart and others that say front wheels off the ground is not really a problem. With a solid front axle the leaf springs and sway bar will prevent over-extension. With an IFS front suspension shock travel and sway bar limits over-extension.
Either way, the coach will not be as stable, and both place extra side pressure on the jack shafts with front wheels off the ground.